Now Forever
by Flare Warrior
Summary: Guy Bennett: lover, spy, scientist, and man who cannot leave well enough alone. Death, he finds (as he made it), is more of a refresh than a closing. (Part 2 of Window to Heaven)


Guy spent a good deal of time after he woke up trying to figure out where he was, but kept getting stuck on who he was, exactly. He knew he was someone who felt bleary and downtrodden, but he couldn't place why. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, lying in a bed somewhere groping around in his mind for his own name.

It was the sight of his hand lying in front of his face that eventually did it - he was a good deal younger than he thought he ought to be. Right, then. He was Guy Bennett. His life slowly resolved itself in his mind, and it took a while because there was a good bit to be remembered. From that the place started to seem familiar. He was relatively sure of himself when a hard sigh interrupted his sluggish organization of his thoughts.

"Oh honestly, Guy, how long do you plan to sulk?"

That was a voice he knew, one that warmed his heart, clear as a bell with youth and vigor.

 _He'd done it._

The fog of misery that he'd woken up in began to lift. He turned over and there was Tommy, looking thoroughly irritated with him just beside the bed. The midday light from the window shot through his messy hair and made it look like a halo over his head.

"I don't know," he replied when he realized a reply was expected.

"What you need is a rebound."

Rebound? Guy blinked. Not from Tommy, there was no rebounding from Tommy. He remembered establishing that quite definitively. "I don't think I want one?"

"For heaven's sake," Tommy ran a hand through his hair, further messing it, and cast an odd glare at the bedpost just for something to glare at, Guy suspected. Then he dropped to sit on the side of the little bed with another harsh sigh "fine then."

 _Oh good_ , Guy thought when Tommy hauled him into a rough kiss, he didn't need a rebound after all. The kiss didn't last long enough for him to get his hands up and make it more interesting, as he was suddenly thrown back down and pinned there at the shoulder by one of Tommy's hands. He was about to ask what he was up to when Tommy's other hand slipped under the waistband of his underwear. He was never happier to have not put on pants at noon as in the moment that Tommy's hand wrapped around his cock with so little effort.

"God-" he cried, twisting against the hand pinning him as Tommy worked him to full hardness. It didn't take long - he could hardly remember a time he'd been happier to be young, either. His hands flew up to take fistfuls of Tommy's shirt at the shoulders as he thrust up and writhed against the sheets. Carelessly he moaned on every quick stroke, every rolling pass over the leaking head. Sparks danced along his skin, sharp and hot and wonderful, and he just wished Tommy would let him do more than claw at his shirt.

At some point he became aware that Tommy was speaking, his voice gone low and rough.

"Be _still_ , you bloody siren."

Guy cracked his eyes open and found Tommy watching him, the brown of his eyes nearly black and the hard line of his cock visible in his trousers, and that was Guy's undoing. He arched and came on as quiet a cry as he could manage, and he heard Tommy curse softly in the haze.

He laid there and gasped for a few moments, listing in the marvelous afterglow that was enhanced by the fact that Tommy was still hovering, pinning him to the bed, so close Guy could almost taste him on his ragged breaths.

Then he shoved off, and Guy opened his eyes to see him wiping his hand on a kerchief with a hard frown on his lips.

Well, that simply wouldn't do.

Tommy shouted when Guy flipped him over onto his back on the mattress and pinned him half beneath his body, more by necessity than intention, as the beds were quite small and meant for one.

"What are you doing?" Tommy managed, his tone gone up an octave, so Guy kissed him while he got his belt and zipper undone. Nimble young fingers made for quick work, Guy found, and not a second later Tommy snapped away at the feeling of Guy's palm sliding downwards over his skin "Don't-"

He cut off on a cry when Guy wrapped his fingers around Tommy's rock-solid cock. Tommy'd only had his own masturbatory experiences to go off of, and while that and the fact of who he was had been enough to set Guy on fire, Guy himself was graced with far more practice on others, and he gladly brought it to bear. Tommy hunched under the slow drag of his palm and his fingers, dug into his arms where they were crossed over his chest, went white with pressure when Guy pressed his thumb just under the head.

"Bennett," Tommy's voice had gone high and vulnerable "Guy, _please-"_

Guy looked at him and stilled. Tommy's eyes were squeezed shut, his breathing quick and harsh.

"What's wrong, Tommy?"

Guy leaned over and kissed him softly, seeking to calm him. A few more gentle presses, and Tommy's hands unclamped from his own arms to trail up and frame his face, his touch feather-light on Guy's cheeks.

A faint, time-faded memory surfaced in his mind of Tommy, saying quickly as if in the hopes of not being heard, ' _how should I know? I've only ever been with a girl_.' Tommy was made of tougher things than he, so it seemed odd that inexperience would turn him so fragile, but Guy would hardly blame him for it.

"It's alright," he murmured against Tommy's lips.

"It won't be," Tommy breathed, but kissed him again like a compulsion.

Tommy whined into the kiss when Guy started again, slower this time, careful to watch and listen to the little bitten-off cries and choked gasps he made for any sign of distress. Tommy was still tense, but he was rapidly breaking under Guy's hands, his knees edging apart and his hips twitching helplessly more and more as the seconds passed.

He'd never thought of Tommy as cute before, and he probably had no business doing it now, but there it was. He'd be furious if he knew, Guy reflected, and decided to tell him later just to see him flush with indignation. Guy curled over him, pressing kisses to his face and neck, taking full advantage of Tommy's penchant for leaving the top buttons of his shirt undone to leave a few dark marks where they could be covered.

"God, you're gorgeous," he found himself murmuring "wanted you for so long."

Tommy's hands, which had found their way into Guy's robe, twined tighter. Guy snaked an arm under him and drew him closer. His life was clear to him now, adrenaline and a good orgasm dusting off the cobwebs. Tommy kept dying on him, it seemed. Not so this time. He nuzzled against Tommy's cheek, a quiet vow slipping from the depths of his heart.

"I'll never let you go."

He sealed the promise with another, deeper kiss, and Tommy arched and came in his hand as though Guy had bid him to.

Tommy collapsed back onto the old cot, and Guy was content to lie there for the foreseeable future, pressed close and nearly overheated between his and Tommy's skin. But then, like a switch had been flipped, Tommy shoved him off onto the floor and flung himself out of the bed.

"What?" Guy asked, blinking in confusion.

"There, I hope that sorts you," Tommy said curtly, facing the wall across the room as he did his trousers and shirt up.

"What?" Guy said again, climbing unsteadily to his feet. _You are Guy Bennett_ , a little, hysterical voice in his head scolded him, _you broke time and space, and were a spy to boot. You can form a coherent sentence._

"Bennett, don't tell me you thought you'd finally seduced me with your pathetic display." Tommy replied, aiming for haughty and aloof, though he sounded too hard for either. "I was only helping you him out of your system. You know I don't enjoy such things."

"You seemed to like it a few minutes ago," for emphasis Guy brought up his left hand and licked a smear of come off it. He froze up with the tip of his tongue still on his bottom lip at the look of visceral terror that overtook Tommy's face.

"Tommy?"

"This will not happen again," Tommy snapped "I won't be another one of your _boys_."

Guy blinked "You- my what?"

"The ones who come to you like you're some kind of - of _whore_ , who you forget in hours until one of you needs blackmail," Tommy made an agitated gesture at the other beds as if they were the silent phantoms of the boys who slept in them.

"Tommy, you glorious fool," Guy laughed. He strode over and backed Tommy against the wall, boxing him in with one forearm braced over his head "Is this really it? Is _this_ how we get together?"

"What are you talking about, Guy?"

"You and your bloody principles, I suspect," he leaned close, "Tommy, I don't want you to be one of my 'boys', and I don't want anyone else at all if you're on the table."

Tommy scoffed "And how long will that last? Better we stay friends, then you stand a chance of remembering me."

"Is - is that why - " Guy found himself laughing again at how ridiculous this all was. Tommy Judd, stalwart and hard as stone, at some point deciding that the closest spot to Guy Bennett was as his best friend and jealously defending that spot when it was another altogether that he'd have rather had. "How long will it last?" he continued, leaving his thoughts where they might fall "Decades, another century at least. For ever and ever, as long as you'll have me. It will be impossible for me to forget you. You'll be the first and last thing I think about each day."

"What about James?"

Guy blinked "Who?"

"What do you mean, ' _who'_? This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Tommy looked such that if he could have collected the last few minutes into a physical example he might have shoved the whole of it in Guy's mouth "The boy you've been pining after for a semester and whom you were just sulking in bed over!"

Guy wracked his brain and eventually summoned up an image of a dull blonde boy with impressive abs and no wit to speak of. Embarrassing, the follies of youth.

"Oh. Well, that was before Tommy Judd confessed his love to me. Who would pine after a river stone when they've just been handed a diamond?"

Tommy's eyes grew slightly wider, a feat since he still looked wholly spooked, before shuttering. He gave Guy a rough shove, one that he only didn't stumble under by virtue of grabbing the edge of the fireplace.

"Don't toy with me, Bennett."

Guy looked down at him - and how strange it was to stand so close and realize he was a good bit taller. Tommy crossed his arms over his chest, defensive and guarded, and Guy realized what a lonely life he must have lead in these unkind walls. Guy had false friends aplenty and enough sex to make up the difference, at least, but Tommy was too earnest to take comfort in such insincerity. ' _I'm a joke to them_ ,' he seemed to recall Tommy saying once.

"I'm not toying. You are extraordinary," he replied "You know, I'm actually a very serious person, to the point of dramatic. I rarely joke, though everyone seems to think I jest all the time," he popped one of Tommy's buttons, intending to summon up thoughts of all the times he'd done so in the past and been laughed off. If Tommy's hard swallow was anything to go by, he'd succeeded.

When Tommy didn't respond besides, Guy took the opportunity he'd made for himself and set about making another mark on the pale expanse of skin he'd exposed.

"Bennett -" Tommy bit out, sharp and distracted.

"Guy," Guy corrected.

" _Bennett_ ,"

"I won't listen unless you call me by my first name."

"Damn it, you are insufferable." Tommy's hand found its way into his hair in contrast to his frustration "Guy, I haven't - I don't know if I'll be able to be with a man. I don't know that this will last."

Guy drew back and smiled "Give it a shot anyway. I've something of a premonition that it will work out."

Tommy still looked guarded, so Guy cupped his cheek and pulled him into another kiss, delving between his lips and leisurely exploring his mouth. By degrees he melted, pushing off the wall to press closer, the hand still in Guy's hair tightening. When they eventually parted Tommy's lips were a lovely shining red, and his eyes a touch less panicked.

Guy tilted his head as a thought struck him.

"You know, I've just noticed that you never corrected me when I said you loved me."

Tommy went rigid in his arms again but didn't deny it.

"It's alright, Tommy," Guy laughed "Stop acting so shell-shocked. I love you more than anything. I love you like the ocean loves the moon, as the flowers love the sun. My life is ruinous without you."

He could have kept on, but Tommy shoved him back to stare worriedly into his face. "What in god's name's gotten into you?" he demanded.

"You, Tommy Judd," he grinned "Someday I'm going to tell you how wonderful you are enough times that you'll believe me," he pulled Tommy into yet another kiss. He could do this all day, he decided. Maybe he would.

"Guy, someone might _see_ ," Tommy said when they broke apart for air.

"Oh, let them. I'll go to war for you, my dear."

* * *

He would, eventually, go to war for him, when Tommy volunteered to fight Franco's troops in thirty-six. It was the first good fight Guy could remember being in, all things told.

He took the shrapnel meant for Tommy, though some whizzed by in less-deadly arcs and hit his shoulder. Guy only felt marginally guilty when he was glad to know Tommy would be put out of action as Tommy dragged him to cover, pressing at the battery on his back.

"What were you thinking!?" he shouted, gloriously alive, and through the pain Guy felt himself smiling.

"What was I thinking? I was thinking that I need not air nor blood nor bone, my dear Tommy, so long as you love me I simply cannot die."

"You mad fool!" Tommy shouted, clutching at him as more bombs shook the ground "How in god's name am I supposed to live without you?"

"Weren't you listening? You won't have to."

It was a rare occasion to see Tommy scared, but as he pulled his blood-stained hands into view Guy could see this was one of them. He started talking, idly, to keep him calm until help could reach them.

"Where would you like to get married?" he asked.

"Wh-we can't get married, Bennett, we're men."

Guy waived his hand dismissively "In the future, when the marriage act passes."

"The what?"

"It'll be a while I suppose. I could build it," he thought about this. He could build them a church worthy of their union. Yes, he'd do that. He was good at building things.

"Bennett you're in shock."

"Oh, probably, my dear. Won't you marry me, though?"

"Yes, fine, if the world flips on its head and makes it legal, I'll marry you."

Guy grinned.

* * *

He did build the church, in Paris - or commission it. The Parisian Ambassador had certain connections. It was surprisingly easy to use his years as a spy to secure any position he wanted.

When they died they restarted, back in that tiny school in a world hardly big enough for them. Bennett was content, joyous, even though Tommy seemed not to notice the time pass again and again. Then, after half a millennia had come and gone, Tommy sat on the edge of the cot and, rather than demand he get over Jimmy or Jason or whoever, simply sighed and asked:

"Guy, what have you done to us?"

Guy grinned so hard he thought his face might break from it.

"I've built us a heaven, my dear."


End file.
